- New Ward boundaries have yet to be approved, but two candidates are already preparing their 2010 campaigns for Edmonton City Council. Former Edmonton-Sherwood Park NDP candidate Brian LaBelle is planning to run in the Ward 2 area, and Transit Riders' Union of Edmonton organizer Brendan Van Alstine is planning a run in the Ward 3 area.

Actually, the picture was on a flyer advertising an upcoming "Golf 'n Gun" fundraiser for the Foothills-Rockyview PC Association (and in all seriousness, this is probably the coolest picture I've ever seen of the former University of Calgary academic).

Monday, March 30, 2009

...the fight involves a group of six ranchers calling itself "the Big Loop Group" and includes two oilmen who happen to have active ranches in the region fighting energy giant Petro-Canada. The twist to all this is that Curtis Bartlett and Bruce Chernoff have dealt with similar issues as stewards of oil and gas companies over the years, but in this case have switched hats and are looking at the issues from an environmental perspective.

“We need your help to keep the ALP office operating at a reasonable level, and ready to serve Albertans.”

Over a year after the last election, the Alberta Liberals are struggling to pay their bills. It’s hard to understand why a political organization that earned 251,158 votes in the last election would have such a hard time paying off their 8-year debt, now sitting at around $400,000. The once $1 million debt-load was largely the product of the 2001 election campaign under former leader Nancy MacBeth. The Liberals went from 16 to 7 seats in that election, including a loss by MacBeth in Edmonton-McClung.

Two leaders and four years later, Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft led the Liberals to reclaim a majority of seats in Edmonton and gain a three-seat beachhead in Calgary. While PC leader Ralph Klein was unceremoniously shown the door in 2006, the Liberals had high hopes. Ed Stelmach was selected as PC leader, and the Liberals raised $1 million in 2007 and won the by-election in Klein’s abandoned Calgary-Elbow constituency. As the 2008 election approached, most people predicted the PCs would be re-elected, but with a reduced majority government.

On March 3, 2008, the PCs got their vote out, and everyone else stayed home. Well, that’s not really what happened, but it's almost true. The PCs surged from 63 to 72 seats, unseating Liberals, New Democrats, and Wildrosers across Alberta, but voter turnout dropped to record low levels. With only around 90% of Albertans registered to vote, the pathetic turnout likely sat under 40% of eligible voters (including 22 out of 83 ridings which had less than 40% turnout).

While the Liberals dropped to 9 MLAs in 2008 by losing seats in Edmonton and facing decreasing support in rural Alberta, they did manage to increase their seat and vote total in Calgary by electing two new MLAs. The election of Kent Hehr in Calgary-Buffalo and Darshan Kang in Calgary-McCall shifted the power base in the Liberal caucus to southern Alberta for the first time in recent memory (five MLAs from Calgary, three from Edmonton, and one from Lethbridge). In the contest to replace Taft, two Calgary MLAs quickly became frontrunners.

In December 2008, Calgary-Mountain View MLA David Swann won a first-ballot victory against fellow Calgary MLA Dave Taylor and former Edmonton MLA Mo Elsalhy to become the first Liberal leader from Calgary since Nick Taylor campaigned in that city during the 1970s (Nick Taylor was eventually elected MLA in the Westlock-Sturgeon and Redwater ridings north of Edmonton from 1986 to 1996).

Following his victory, Swann appointed Elsalhy to lead a committee tasked with proposing recommendations to renew the Liberal Party. Joining Elsalhy on the committee are Norma Block of Drayton Valley, Barry Cavanaugh and Stephanie Laskoski of Edmonton, Jade Boldt and Peter Willott of Calgary, and Zack Moline of Lethbridge. The committee has launched a website to jump start some discussion, and in a recent email, Elsalhy announced the launch of a survey for ALP members and non-members asking what Alberta’s Liberal Party can do to renew itself. At the Legislature, Swann has brought in former MLA Rick Miller as Chief of Staff, and Calgary Federal Liberal organizer Neil Mackie as Communications Director.

Can the Alberta Liberals renew by creating momentum, attracting new members, and paying down their financial debt? What will it take for the Swann Liberals to attract new strong candidates, as well as re-attracting the many former Liberal MLAs who have moved on to other levels of government (Edmonton City Councillors Linda Sloan, Karen Leibovici, and Ed Gibbons come to mind).

The Alberta Liberals are in a rough spot, financially and organizationally, and though it may be easy to criticize Swann’s choice to focus on open consultations rather than implement a pre-made strategy, consultation and dialogue are his style. At this point in the game, the Liberals have very little to lose, so my recommendations to them are to be bold, challenge their status quo, and turn things on their head, because if the current fundraising trends continue, the Alberta Liberal Party may not be in the position to do so after the next election.

While Hayden's power of persuasion over rural politicians may be impressive, it doesn't mean there is lack of concern over Bill 19 on municipal councils. The Drayton Valley Western Review has reported that Brazeau County Council voted not to oppose Bill 19 because they believed 'their voice is too small to be effective.' As such they have left matters in the hands of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties to give voice to the concerns of the residents of Brazeau County. The Western Review continued:

One councillor, Anthony Heinrich, does not feel this is the best course of action. He was disappointed that council would not be voicing the concerns of the ratepayers directly while seeking support from other municipalities and counties in the area, something that has been done in the past.

Heinrich says he is disappointed in the way the MLAs are dealing with this issue. At a meeting in Warburg March 10 with the Warburg Pembina Surface Rights group three MLAs; Evan Berger, Diana McQueen and Ray Prins listened to the concerns of those present. Heinrich says he thought the constituents were being listened to, but, after reading some of the comments made by McQueen in a previous article in The Western Review, felt that perhaps this is untrue.

He says it is possible MLAs are speaking truthfully when they give their word that no Alberta resident will be taken advantage of using this bill. However, he is concerned that these MLAs may not hold the positions that they currently do when an issue arises.

A group of landowners, including Green Party leader Joe Anglin, are continuing to host information sessions and public town hall meetings across central Alberta to raise awareness and opposition to Bill 19. The United Power Transmission Area Groups will be hosting two more town hall meetings in Innisfail and Crossfield on April 6 & 7:

The mainstream media has taken quite a beating over the past year, and while it's really easy to focus on the negative (especially when people are losing their jobs), it's important to recognize some of the great journalists and newspapers that are continuing to report, write, and publish print news in our communities.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

As part of the 'Freedom to Create' part of Alberta's new identity rebranding campaign, the Government of Alberta will now let ordinary citizens select which government priority fits with each Government media release.

Re-branding Alberta ("Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve")... $25 million

UPDATE: In retrospect, perhaps this post would be better summed up as:

The $25 million public relations campaign is an exercise in spin. I am proud to be Albertan, but I wish our elected officials would not have to rely on high-priced public relations consultants as a crutch to manage Alberta's identity. I wish for an Alberta where our elected officials had the courage to lead by and defend Alberta's national and international reputation through the strength of their actions. Alberta is an incredible province, with some incredible people, but the institutional mediocrity that has crept into our democratic culture has stymied our limitless potential. Alberta in 2009 is a great place to live, but it has the potential to be so much better.

Introduced by Calgary-Hays MLA Art Johnston. The AAMDC is waiting for more details, but the AUMA has written to Premier Ed Stelmach raising concerns about the "bureaucracy and increased costs, to both the Province and municipalities,” which they argue could be created if this Bill becomes Law. This Bill could also have the unintended consequence of creating increased tension between the province and municipalities, as many municipalities (including both the Cities of Edmonton and Calgary) already employ their own Auditors who report to the elected Councils. While I support increases accountability and transparency, I would hope that a new Auditor General would not face the same funding challenges that have plagued the provincial Auditor General over the past few months.

Introduced by Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson. As rules around municipal campaign financing currently vary from municipality to municipality, this Bill would bring law and order to one of the last frontiers of campaign finance in Wild Rose Country. Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier has recently introduced recommendations to change campaign finance regulations after his 2007 opponent, Alnoor Kassam, self-funded a $1 million dollar campaign against the incumbent Mayor. Increased consistency, transparency, and accountability on the municipal level is a good start, but there's still a long way to go.

Introduced by Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman. Especially important in areas of the province such as Edmonton's Capital Region, the creation of municipal tax-sharing agreements and formulas are a critical growth management issue in Alberta. I'm unsure how this Bill would complement the recently agreed upon 'peace in our time'* among the 25 Capital Region municipalities, but I've always thought it likely that provincial legislation would need to be enacted before we would ever see concrete action on this issue. Unfortunately, due to Blakeman's political geography in the Legislature (sitting in the 9 MLA Liberal caucus, and not in the 72 MLA PC caucus), it's very likely that Bill 204 will meet a similar fate to Kent Hehr's Bill 201 and be defeated.

(Rimbey, AB) Bill 19 – still looking for the right combination to debate Green Party Leader Joe Anglin over the proposed Land Assembly Area Act [Bill 19], the Hon Jack Hayden, author of the Bill, attended a public forum in Riley AB on Monday night to try his best to defend the Bill. Mr. Hayden accompanied with MLAs Mr. Evan Berger (Livingstone-Macleod), Mr. Ray Prins (Lacombe Ponoka), Ms. Diana McQueen (Drayton Valley/Calmar), Mr. Verlyn Olson (Wetaskiwin/Camrose), and Mr. Doug Griffiths (Battle River-Wainwright) failed to convince the crowd in attendance of the merits of the Bill or the proposed amendments, and may have embarrassed themselves.

Mr. Hayden told the crowd in the attendance, as the government has done at previous public forums, Bill 19 was needed because the Restricted Development Act was struck down in a previous court decision. When queried by Mr. Anglin over the referenced court decision, Mr. Hayden was informed that a Restricted Development Act has never existed in law in Alberta, and the Alberta courts have no record of a decision striking down any piece of Alberta Legislation called the Restricted Development Act.

Anglin went on to ask Mr. Hayden that if he could not produce a copy of a court case striking down the assumed Restricted Development Act, would he then agree that the premise for drafting Bill 19 was based on an error concerning a court ruling that doesn’t exist, and would he then withdraw the Bill because of this error?

Mr. Hayden did not respond to Anglin’s question, and the other five MLAs scrambled and shuffled paper. However, Mr. Hayden and the other MLAs in attendance would not comment further on the fact the Minister may have drafted Bill 19 in error – in view of the fact the courts have not struck down any legislation in Alberta called the Restricted Development Act.

Tonight, Anglin will face off against Infrastructure Minister Jack Hayden at an open forum in Ryley, Alberta:

For Immediate Release

March 23, 2009

(Rimbey, AB) Tonight at the Ryley Community Center the Minister of Infrastructure, the Hon Jack Hayden, will be discussing Bill 19, the “Land Assembly Area Act”, along with Joe Anglin, Advocate for Landowner Rights and Leader of the Alberta Green Party.

This will be the first time the Minister, and sponsor of the controversial Bill 19, will defend his proposed Bill. Mr. Hayden and Mr. Anglin will answer questions from the public at the open forum.

The public and press are invited to attend. The forum starts at 7: 00 PM March 23, 2009 at the Ryley Community Center (Corner of 51 Ave and 49 St) in Ryley, Alberta.

As an articulate commenter on a previous post wrote, the Office of the Auditor General exists to provide "clear, nonpartisan feedback on the finances of the various functions of government. Their job is to provide what amounts to constructive financial criticism to governments about the way programs, departments and ministries spend money. The better the auditor general, the tighter the financial ship."

The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation lists dedication to less waste and accountable government as two of its main goals, so it seems to me that if there were one area of spending that the CTF would publicly support, it would be for the people who are in charge of the audits that create less waste and more accountable government.

"Realistically everybody would like more money, I would like more money, but the reality is we froze our paycheques this year. This is the first time in 15 years we froze our paycheques. And similarly we don’t want to ge giving extra money to departments where that’s not required.”

"We're in a time of great financial restraint," Johnson said. "I don't know how we (justify) going from $21.5 million to $25 million in one year...." "Nobody has enough money to do the job they'd like to do."

The mandate of the Auditor General of Alberta is to 'identify opportunities and propose solutions for the improved use of public resources, and to improve and add credibility to performance reporting, including financial reporting, to Albertans.' Ensuring financial and systematic efficiency through these audits is one of our government's most important responsibilities to the hardworking citizens and taxpayers of this province. Albertans should not have to wait until good economic times for the Auditor General to have the resources to do the most effective job possible.

- Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Genia Leskiw's private members motion to dissolve Provincial Achievement Tests for Grade 3 students passed in the Alberta Legislature. After a vigorous debate, Lewskiw's motion passed 29 to 18, but did not gain the support of Education Minister Dave Hancock, or most members of the PC Cabinet.

- The Conservative Party of Canada is changing their nomination rules, effectively protecting incumbent MPs from nomination challenges. These rule changes may abort Donna Kennedy-Glans nascent nomination challenge in Calgary-West. Kennedy-Glans had recently announced her intentions to challenge sitting Conservative MP Rob Anders.

Monday, March 16, 2009

The following post is an attempt to create a central location to track the online and social media presence of MLAs and Provincial Political Parties in Alberta. If you have additions to these lists, please post them in the comment section or email daveberta.ca@gmail.com. Thanks! (Last updated on June 19, 2009)

Rather than using the reliable 'ignore the opposition between elections' strategy that has served the PCs so well over the past 36 years, the very presence of these four PC MLAs have actually legitimized the opposition to Bill 19 in rural central Alberta.

- Former Cabinet Minister and Medicine Hat Conservative MP Monte Solberg is once again blogging. After writing a popular blog during his time in the opposition benches, Solberg stopped blogging when he became a Cabinet Minister in 2006. After serving 15 years in the House of Commons, Solberg did not seek re-election in the 2008 election. Solberg also writes a regular column for SunMedia (h/t @BreakenNews).

Provincial Affairs/Fish & Game columnist Neil Waugh was one of twenty staff laid off at the Edmonton Sun yesterday. A fixture of the Alberta political scene for decades, Waugh seems to have become one of the latest casualties of continent-wide media layoffs.

Though I wish him good luck in his future endeavors, in my humble opinion, Waugh was not an amazing political columnist, nor even a mediocre columnist. I struggle to name another mainstream political writer in Alberta who's columns were as qualitatively inconsistent as Waugh's. Perhaps he showed promise as a columnist at one point in his writing career, but over the past ten years, his columns had rapidly declined in their quality, and had come closer to resembling one-line rants rather than well-thought out columns.

I have had two experiences with Waugh that stick out in my mind. The most obvious was his January 2008 column that ingrained in infamy the quote "...Dave Cournoyer isn't some obscure fat frat boy with a sticky-up haircut" (or at least in the header of this blog). Though I appreciated the attention on the issue, I was surprised that Waugh didn't even attempt to contact me before accusing me of being part of an secret well-oiled Liberal Party conspiracy to tarnish the image of Premier Ed Stelmach (and as we all know, the same well-oiled political machine steamrolled to electoral victory in March 2008... oh wait...).

My second memorable Waugh experience sits more in the realm of bizarre. During a February 2008 media conference about the PC-connected Election Returning Officers, Waugh threw then-Liberal leader Kevin Taft a screwball question about Federal Liberal appointments to the Canadian Senate. Off-topic? Yes. Bizarre? Undoubtably.

As an active participant in what you recently described as the “virtual wonderland” of the Internet, I am hopeful that Internet technology and online social media hold great potential to reconnect citizens, elected officials, and government in our province.

I would urge you to revisit your initial reaction to the use of online communications from the floor of the Assembly. I agree that Members should respect the institution and proud traditions of the Legislature, but it is important to understand the limitless potential that these technologies now play in connecting elected Members to citizens outside the Dome.

During the February 4, 2009 Members’ Services Committee meeting, you warned MLAs about taking the advice of “hotshot” staffers in their Caucuses who were pushing the elected representatives to become more Internet savvy. These comments lead me to believe that you may not fully understand the power of these technologies to reconnect citizens with their democratic institutions, such as the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. A democratic institution remains effective only as long as those occupying it remain relevant and connected to the citizens the Assembly exists to represent. With less than forty percent of Albertans having participated in the last election, this is a very real concern.

Online social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, have developed quickly, and it is understandable that someone in the position of Speaker would not be fully exposed to their nuances. Instead of instituting a blanket ban on technology during Question Period, I would ask that you reflect on the changes in technology that have occurred since you first stepped into elected office nearly thirty years ago.

This technology has the real potential to engage citizens with MLAs on the floor of the Assembly.

If you are interested in learning more, it would be my pleasure as a citizen of Alberta to meet with you and offer reflections on my personal experience of how online social media and internet technology can re-energize citizenship in our province.

Sincerely,

David Cournoyer

Edmonton, Alberta

PS. I’ve taken the liberty of posting this letter on my blog, http://www.daveberta.ca, so that other Albertans can have the opportunity to join this debate online.

Be it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the government to introduce amendments to the Emblems of Alberta Act to designate Leccinum boreale, also known as northern roughstem or red cap, as the official mushroom of Alberta.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to rise and introduce Motion 502. I acknowledge that there are pressing economic issues that currently exist; however, this motion is important to my constituents and 2,500 Albertans who have chosen this mushroom to be designated as Alberta’s provincial mushroom emblem.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Highlighting the power of online social media, Saturday's IDEAfest, which was largely organized through Facebook and Twitter, drew over 100 Edmontonians to the University of Alberta on a snowy Saturday in March. The event was open to the public, and saw three presenters in three different rooms present every half an hour on an idea or topic of their choice. A big congratulations to Michael Janz (@michaeljanz) for organizing the excellent day-long event.

Thanks to everyone who showed up to my afternoon presentation, "The Fall of the Media Empires and Rise of Citizen Journalism." My presentation focused on the evolving nature of mainstream media, and the growing number of citizen journalists filling the gaps in community and political media coverage created by layoffs in the industry (which you can follow at @canmedialayoffs). Though some people may argue that examples like CanWest teetering on the brink of bankruptcy protection will herald the extinction to the mainstream media, I argued that the downfall of the major media corporations is simply an evolution of the media industry. I was glad to read that the event and my presentation were reported on in Sunday's Edmonton Journal (and I can understand why a CanWest-owned newspaper wouldn't want to include the main point of my presentation in their article).

While Chris Laboissiere (@chrislabossiere) and Ken Chapman (@kenchapman46) wrote some positive blog posts about the event, I was surprised to read a blog post by presenter Derek Warwick (@derekwarwick) in which he argues that the lack of gender or skin-colour diversity among the presenters was due to an "embedded racism" among those involved in the event.I should probably know better, but as someone who was involved in the event I feel the sheer ridiculousness of this accusation requires a response. Warwick's visual observation are fair, but his "embedded racism" theory doesn't seem to be grounded in any sort of reality. IDEAfest grew though a very open and organic word of mouth process (over 1,000 people were invited to the event over Facebook) and offered the opportunity for anyone interested to present on the idea or topic of their choice.

Anyway...

I could spend all day writing about the diverse range of topics and ideas covered in the presentations, but you will just have to come to the next IDEAfest (date to be announced) and enjoy it for yourself!

Saturday, March 07, 2009

I've made a last minute change to the topic of my presentation. At 1:30pm, I will be presenting "The Fall of the Media Empires and Rise of Citizen Journalism." It should be an interesting day, and there are a lot of cool presentations coming up, including "Countdown to Copenhagen: International Climate Negotiations and the Quest" (10:30am) "15 Ways to make Edmonton a Better City" (11:00am), "Twitter and social media..." (11:00am) and "Underground Media and the Importance of do-it-yourself local media" (12:00pm).

- Arthur Kent is continuing to publicly voice his disappointment in the current PC government. In a recent blog post, the internationally-known journalist and former Calgary-Currie PC candidate wrote that he believes Alberta will only regain its economic edge "once we deal with the disadvantage of a government that lets patronage trump free enterprise, and stubbornness get in the way of common sense." Damning words from a former star candidate.

Friday, March 06, 2009

If you're looking for something (free and open to the public) to nourish your mind this weekend, check out IDEAfest 2009 at the University of Alberta this Saturday (location: Tory 95).

Based on the format of DemoCamp and BarCamp, IDEAfest 2009 gives interested people a chance to host their very own session (kind of like TED). 3 speakers every half hour, 3 different rooms. Choose the room that interests you.

For those of you lucky ehough to be there tomorrow afternoon, I will be presenting at 1:30pm on some of my personal experiences using social media.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

This week's FFWD Weekly has two interesting articles covering online social media in Alberta.

Alberta political conversation thrives on Twitterby Jeremy Klaszus covers some of the interesting political debates happening on Twitter. In a recent trend that has taken the Wild Rose province by storm, Twitter users from across Alberta have been "live-tweeting" commentary of the Alberta Legislature's daily Question Period. You can follow the live commentary by searching for the hash-tag #ABLeg using Twitter Search.

Mackie will be leaving his position as President of the Calgary-based Vincero Communications, a subsidiary of Ivrnet Inc. In the recent past, Ivrnet/Vincero have done political polling for Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor during his unsuccessful Liberal leadership bid, and former Edmonton-Riverview PC candidate Wendy Andrewsduring her run against former Liberal leader Kevin Taft in March 2008. I'm told that while working with the company, Mackie also handled polling in up to 53 PC held ridings during the 2008 election, and in Calgary-Buffalo for the campaign of LiberalKent Hehr.

Well-known politicos with Ivrnet/Vincero connections include its current Vice-President, former Calgary-Centre Reform Party MP Eric Lowther, and former Calgary Herald reporter David Heyman. Heyman was employed as Director of Communications for Ivrnet/Vincero before becoming Calgary Communications Manager for Premier Ed Stelmach.

Other important audits that have been delayed or canceled include investigations into the collection process of Alberta natural resource royalties (delayed indefinitely), post-secondary education facility capacity and utilization (canceled), post-secondary program planning (canceled), Sustainable Resource Environmental Management (delayed until 2010), and measuring the effectiveness of the fiscal regime of the Department of Finance and Enterprise (delayed until 2011). A full list can be found here.

Edmonton – Judy Wilson, Chief of Staff of the Alberta Liberal Caucus will be leaving her position, effective Friday March 6, 2009. Rick Miller, former MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford, will be stepping into that role.

“Our caucus has a new leader, and he has decided to take a new direction,” said Wilson. “I wish Rick all the best in his new role.

“I’m looking forward to new challenges and opportunities, and to having time to focus on other projects that are important to me – like the Student Refugee program at the U of A, and my Rotary club. I’ll have more time to devote to coaching my daughter’s soccer team,” says Wilson.

“I have appreciated working with Judy and all that she has contributed to our Caucus in her nearly 2 years here”, says Dr. David Swann, Leader.

Rick Miller will assume his new role effective Monday, March 9, 2009.

“I see this as an opportunity to contribute to democracy in this province, which has always been important to me,” said Miller.

“I feel very fortunate to be able to come into an organization where a strong, solid foundation has been built, thanks to the commitment and talents of Judy Wilson. I’ve known Judy for many years – we are in the same Rotary Club and worked together in caucus when I was an MLA. I have tremendous respect for the skills that she brings to any endeavour in her future,” concluded Miller.

-30-

One of the first challenges faced by Miller will be to boost the moral and provide internal direction in Alberta's Official Opposition caucus, which fell to 9 elected MLAs in 2008. Miller will also face the challenge of plugging leaks that have contributed to a rumour mill of anonymous gossip emanating from the Liberal Caucus over the past couple months. Many of the anonymous rumours surrounded Wilson's participation in conversations being held by various groups of Albertans dissatisfied with the state of democracy in this province (including myself and Jason Morris from Gauntlet.ca).

There are likely many reasons why the large majority of Albertans failed to cast their ballot on that day, but one that continually arises in conversations is cynicism. It's hard to argue that any of our political parties gave Albertans a compelling reason to race to the polls in droves a year ago, and I don't believe that much has changed a year later.

Entering the second year of Ed Stelmach's first term as Premier, our province is facing many challenges. No longer rolling in the billion dollar surpluses that we had been told were thanks to the now dead Alberta Advantage, Finance Minister Iris Evans now tells us that this year's $1.4 billion deficit is 'market induced' (and not the fault of a political party which has been happy to take credit for Alberta's fiscal prosperity over the past decade).

Should Albertans blame the Stelmach PCs for the economic downturn? Of course not, because it's not their fault, but nor should Albertans praise them for the (also market induced) boom.

In their March 2009 edition, National Geographic shined a powerful international spotlight on Alberta's oilsands, dealing an unintentional blow to the yet to be launched replacement for the Alberta Advantage. The $25 million taxpayer-funded public relations campaign is set to brand Albertans with a new identity by combating international criticism of the oilsands. Do Albertans really need government-hired public relations consultants to determine our identity? Albertans are more than just a brand, and our identity will be determined by our actions, not by government-hired public relations consultants.

The death of the Alberta Advantage has led the Progressive Conservatives to once again return to the realm of budget deficits, and as the government cuts important programs like the $2 billion GreenTRIP funding for public transit in our cities, they are continuing to funnel $2 billion into a Carbon Capture and Storage project.

It wasn't that long ago that the governing PCs would claim and shame the opposition parties for wanting to spend Alberta back into a deficit. Now faced with a billion dollar deficit, the same PCs are willing to push aside 15 years of fiscal dogma to continue spending billions of dollars on an unproven technology, that if developed would put Alberta at the forefront of collecting yesterday's dirty pollution, while the rest of the world focuses on tomorrow's new and renewable energy.

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The opinions expressed on this blog represent my own and not those of my employer or any organization I may be affiliated with.In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time. I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various ideas running around my brain, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.

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Who is Dave Cournoyer? I am a writer, blogger, communicator, occasional media pundit, political watcher, & proud life-long Albertan. I studied Political Science at the University of Alberta and have served as Vice-President (External) of the U of A Students' Union, Chair of the Council of Alberta University Students, and communications coordinator for Alberta's official opposition party.